EVGE EVOO
Meat of choice (I prefer the cuts with more fat, so for pork, the shoulder and for chicken, the thighs). Beef and pork should be cut into 1-2″ cubes–salt, pepper and sprinkle ground allspice on pieces of meat
Sliced red onions: 1 onion per pound of meat
Red wine: 1/2 cup for every pound of meat
Tomato paste (1tsp for every onion)
Pureed chopped tomato (canned is fine) 1/2 cup for every onion
dried fruit: any combination of apricots, figs or prunes
Bay leaves
Allspice berries and ground allspice (to season meat along with salt and pepper)
Peppercorns
1.Brown the salted, peppered and allspiced meat on the stove in olive oil until brown on all sides and remove from pan
2. Sauté the onions (salted) in the same pan until soft and then sauté the tomato paste when the onions are almost soft
3. Pour the red wine to de-glaze pan and add the pureed tomato and also the dried fruit, allspice berries, peppercorns and bay leaves
4. Continue cooking either on the stove or in the oven. I usually continue to cook poultry on the stove (but the other meats would work this way as well) by a putting the meat back into the pot, cover and cook until done (if using a pressure cooker, it will be about 8 minutes for chicken) if using a regular pot, then about 40 minutes for chicken. When done, I put the chicken pieces under the broiler to brown the skin.
5. If cooking red meat (and you can also cook the chicken this way) put the meat and sauce in a covered clay pot or dutch oven or slow cooker or if you have none of those, in a oven pan covered with aluminum foil (parchment + foil is even better). Cook at around 370 for 2 hours (for red meat) and about one hour for poultry. Uncover and continue cooking until sauce reaches desired thickness.
Happy cooking and Kali Orexi!!
